Search This Blog

Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

US Deal With Equatorial Guinea Missed Chance

Provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), agents
inspect a Ferrari at the Malibu, Calif., mansion of the son of
Equitorial Guinea's president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, during the
execution of a search warrant. Mangue must sell the $30 million Malibu
mansion, the Ferrari and Michael Jackson memorabilia and then give the
proceeds to the citizens of his impoverished country, under a settlement
announced Friday, Oct. 10, 2014 by U.S. authorities who said he bought
the lavish items with money stolen from the African nation. Mangue, who
is also Equatorial Guinea's second vice president, agreed to turn over
$20 million from the sale of these assets to a charitable organization
to be used to benefit the people of his country, the U.S. Department of
Justice said. Another $10.3 million will be forfeited to the U.S.
government.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A U.S. deal forcing the son of
Equatorial Guinea's leader to turn over $31.3 million in ill-gotten
gains misses an opportunity to expose the workings of corruption in the
oil-rich nation, human rights activists said.

The Open Society Justice Initiative said putting
Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue on trial would have brought "revelations
that ... could have been of inestimable value to expose the nature of
the corruption system in Equatorial Guinea as well as the role of
lawyers, bankers and other professionals who grease the wheels of
abuse." Obiang is also the country's vice president.

Still, the New York-based organization welcomed the first U.S. legal
action of its kind to target the family of a sitting head of state,
according to a statement late Friday by Ken Hurwitz, head of the
organization's anti-corruption work.
In the first case under the Department of Justice's
Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, Obiang must sell a Malibu
mansion, a Ferrari and Michael Jackson memorabilia to raise $20 million
to go to a charity working for the people of his country and $10.3
million to the U.S. also to be used to benefit the people of the West
African coastal nation.
He also must pay $1 million to cover the value of
Michael Jackson memorabilia already removed from the U.S., including a
"Thriller" jacket and crystal-covered glove, Assistant Attorney General
Leslie Caldwell said Friday.
The U.S. had in 2011 filed claims against Obiang's
U.S.-based assets worth more than $70 million, alleging they were the
proceeds of corruption. It said Obiang's annual salary at the time was
less than $100,000.
Hurwitz said the case significantly "breaks with
the more common pattern of waiting until a corrupt family's rule has
ended before tracking down their assets: in contrast, Teodorin's family
is still very much in control in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, most of
whose oil and gas is pumped by U.S. companies."
Despite wealth that has raised Equatorial Guinea's
per capita income above that of former colonizer Spain, most of the
750,000 people live in poverty. U.S. authorities say Obiang other
officials have amassed vast wealth through extortion, embezzlement and
other corruption.
Obiang said in a statement that he was pleased to
end the proceedings, even though his property "was acquired with funds
earned in accordance with the laws of my country." He said he hoped the
settlement would improve relations, adding "For the good of my country,
it was important to resolve this matter and put the relationship back on
firm footing."
Obiang still is the subject of lawsuits in France
and Spain. French financial prosecutors in March filed preliminary
charges of alleged money-laundering connected to real estate, luxury
cars, art and other property in France. It is part of a larger suit
involving properties owned by leaders of Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and
Republic of Congo.
In Spain, prosecutors in 2009 opened an official
investigation into alleged money-laundering by Equatorial Guinea's
president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, and his family into bank transfers and
the purchase of luxury properties in Madrid, Gijon and the Canary
Islands.

Provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows the
exterior of the Malibu, Calif., mansion of the son of Equitorial
Guinea's president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, during the execution
of a search warrant. Mangue must sell the $30 million Malibu mansion, a
Ferrari and Michael Jackson memorabilia and then give the proceeds to
the citizens of his impoverished country, under a settlement announced
Friday, Oct. 10, 2014 by U.S. authorities who said he bought the lavish
items with money stolen from the African nation. Mangue, who is also
Equatorial Guinea's second vice president, agreed to turn over $20
million from the sale of these assets to a charitable organization to be
used to benefit the people of his country, the U.S. Department of
Justice said. Another $10.3 million will be forfeited to the U.S.
government.

Comments

BIAFRA

Translate

Popular Posts

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, right, accompanied by Gov. Gavin Newsom, said California will probably sue President Donald Trump over his emergency declaration to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, in Sacramento, Calif. Becerra says there is no emergency at the border and Trump doesn't have the authority to make the declaration. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

BY KATHLEEN RONAYNE

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (AP) — California is likely to sue President Donald Trump over his emergency declaration to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, the state attorney general said Friday.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Gov. Gavin Newsom, both Democrats, told reporters that there is no emergency at the border and that Trump doesn’t have the authority to make the declaration.

“No one in America is above the law, not even the president of the United States,” Becerra said. “The president does not have power to act frivolously.”

BY SEYE OLUMIDEABUJA (THE GUARDIAN)--Former Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Alani Akinrinade (rtd) in an interview with The Guardian on July 24, 2016, accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari of deceiving Nigerians to win the 2015 election.

The retired service chief said the incumbent signed to a manifesto of restructuring before he secured the support of the Southwest leaders but rescinds immediately he got into office.

Four years down the line, restructuring is still a matter agitating the region few days ahead of the 2019 general election. Some leaders of the region, especially those holding political offices and are also seeking reelection on the platform of the ruling APC are skating around the subject basically because President Buhari and the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu have refused to mention the matter the subject.

Senegalese President Macky Sall delivers a speech during his coalition's election campaign meeting at Lamine Gueye stadium in Kaolack, Senegal on 12 February 2019. Picture: AFP
DAKAR (AFP)--- Senegal goes to the polls Sunday in a presidential contest that incumbent Macky Sall, facing unusually few challengers in a country fond of vigorous political debate, is confident of winning in the first round.

His two biggest rivals -- popular Dakar ex-mayor Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, the son of the previous president -- were disqualified after being convicted of corruption in trials questioned by rights groups.

"Victory in the first round is indisputable," a Macky Sall told a recent Dakar campaign rally.

Sall faces competition from four opposition rivals -- lesser-known perhaps, but campaigning hard against the president's plans for a second phase in a controversial infrastructure project called "Emerging Senegal."

A view shows the Bonny oil terminal in the Niger delta which is operated by Royal Dutch Shell in Port Harcourt Thomson Reuters

LONDON (REUTERS) - Nigeria has ordered foreign oil and gas companies to pay nearly $20 billion in taxes it says are owed to local states, industry and government sources said, in a move that could deter investment in Africa's largest economy.

In a letter sent to the companies earlier this year via a debt-collection arm of the government, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) cited what it called outstanding royalties and taxes for oil and gas production.

Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Eni, Total and Equinor were each asked to pay the central government between $2.5 billion and $5 billion, said the sources, who saw or were briefed on the letters.

Norway's Equinor, which produced around 45,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil in Nigeria in 2017, confirmed the request.

"Several operators have received similar claims in a case between the authoriti…

This illustration released on May 3, 2017 by the Obama Foundation shows plans for the proposed Obama Presidential Center with a museum, rear, in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side. This view looks from the south with a public plaza that extends into the landscape. Odds still favor the eventual construction of Barack Obama's $500 million presidential museum and library in a park along Chicago's lakeshore. A judge hears arguments Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, on a city motion to toss a parks-advocacy group’s lawsuit that argues the project violates laws barring development in lakeside parks. (Obama Foundation via AP, File)

BY MICHAEL TARM

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge gave the green light Tuesday to a parks-advocacy group’s lawsuit that aims to stop for good the delayed construction of former President Barack Obama’s $500 million presidential center in a Chicago park beside Lake Michigan.

Supporters of the project had hoped the court would grant a city motion to throw out the law…

In this Aug. 9, 2017 file photo, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert speaks during a briefing at the State Department in Washington. The State Department says Nauert, picked by President Donald Trump to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations but never officially nominated, has withdrawn her name from consideration on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)BY MATHEW LEE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Heather Nauert, picked by President Donald Trump to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations but never officially nominated, has withdrawn from consideration, the State Department said.

Nauert, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a department statement that “the past two months have been grueling for my family and therefore it is in the best interest of my family that I withdraw my name from consideration.”

Nauert’s impending nomination had been considered a tough sell in the Senate, where she would have faced tough questions about her relative lack of forei…

Honda's President and CEO Takahiro Hachigo speaks during a press conference in Tokyo Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. Honda Motor Co. plans to close its car factory in western England in 2021, the company said Tuesday, in a fresh blow to the British economy as it faces its March 29 exit from the European Union. (Yuya Shino/Kyodo News via AP)BY KAORI HITOMI

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese carmaker Honda plans to close its car factory in western England in 2021, a fresh blow to the British economy as it struggles with the uncertainty associated with leaving the European Union next month.

The company announced the decision, which will imperil 3,500 jobs and possibly many more, at a news conference in Tokyo.

Honda’s president and CEO, Takahiro Hachigo, said the decision was not related to Brexit, but was based on what made most sense for its global competitiveness in light of the need to accelerate its production of electric vehicles.

Residents line up to buy propane gas in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. Businesses and government offices slowly reopened across Haiti on Monday after more than a week of violent demonstrations over prices that have doubled for food, gas and other basic goods in recent weeks and allegations of government corruption. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)BY EVENS SANON, DANICA COTO

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (AP) — Businesses and government offices slowly reopened across Haiti on Monday after more than a week of violent demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise over skyrocketing prices that have more than doubled for basic goods amid allegations of government corruption.

Public transportation resumed in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where people began lining up to buy food, water and gasoline as crews cleared streets of barricades thrown up during the protests.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Paul Manafort, the one-time chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, could spend more than 19 years in prison on tax and bank fraud charges, prosecutors said Friday.

Court documents filed by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office reveal that Manafort faces possibly the lengthiest prison term in the Russia investigation. The 69-year-old Manafort is also at serious risk of spending the rest of his life in prison if a federal judge imposes a sentence within federal guidelines.

The potential sentence stems from Manafort’s conviction last year on eight felony counts related to an elaborate scheme to conceal from tax authorities the millions of dollars he earned overseas from Ukrainian political consulting. It is one of two criminal cases pending against Manafort in w…